Inside the Phillies with MLB.com beat writer Todd Zolecki

Lidge Back on DL

Brad Lidge is back on the DL.

He has had inflammation in his right elbow since he pitched Sunday against Atlanta at Citizens Bank Park. A MRI on Thursday in Philadelphia revealed no loose bodies or damaged ligaments, which the Phillies and Lidge considered good news. But the MRI still showed inflammation in the elbow joint.

They hoped rest would make it go away. It never did, so the Phillies announced after today’s 10-6 victory over the Brewers at Miller Park that they had placed him on the 15-day DL. They recalled Antonio Bastardo from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take his place.

“This isn’t something we didn’t anticipate,” assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said. “Based on the way he threw today we decided this is the action to take.”

Lidge, who still felt stiffness in his arm playing catch before the game, can be activated as early as May 25.

“It is disappointing, but also the doctors said it’s definitely a possibility because we didn’t treat it at all,” Lidge said. “We just gave it a couple days rest. There are treatments we can give for it, hopefully, exactly what we need. It’s frustrating didn’t go away on its own.”

Two options for Lidge are a second cortisone injection – he received his first in March – and a joint lubricant injection.

He said they will make that decision Monday in Philadelphia.

“We didn’t want to do it yet,” Lidge said of any injections. “We wanted to see if it would recover on its own in a couple days. We didn’t get there. … We had a cortisone shot in March and that worked really good. Hopefully, that’ll be what it needs to get over the hump.”

*

The Zo Zone is on Facebook and Twitter. His Phillies book “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly” is available online, and at Delaware Valley bookstores!

While we’ll never be able to (or want to) take away his 2008 perfect season, when we look at the trade now, it seems as if the Astros got a better deal. Brunlett and Lidge for Bourne who has become the best base stealer in the league. Imagine an OF of Bourne, Werth and Shane–nothing would ever fall for a hit.

I hope I am wrong here, but this issue may signal the nearing of the end of Lidge’s career. I have the same issue with my elbow and other joints due to RA…this is usually caused by some form of arthritis, not necessarily RA. But while any type of arthritis or joint inflammation can be treated, it does not just go away. Mine starts to hurt when I do too much, and I am not throwing balls at 90mph. I am lucky if I can hit 30mph anymore, and then I pay for it later. Again, hope I am wrong, but this does not look good.

Jenn: I was thinking the same thing about this perhaps being the end of the road for Lidge. Not a rational thought, just a feeling. He’s had so many issues that this just looks like a big setback for him.
Shame. He’s a stand-up guy and I thought all last season he was trying to convince himself that he felt good, but knew otherwise.
I just saw Mariano Rivera get beat by Minnesota, so this closer thing is precarious.

It’s a shame about Lidge BUT his latest DL stint should surprise nobody. Time to Call- up Mathieson, at some point soon and phase him into the mix at the backend of the Bullpen while Contreras is the closer and Baez is the set-up guy instead of just throwing Scott into the closer’s role immediately.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.